The Coffee Guide—Do You Really Need To ‘Worry’ About Mycotoxins, Picking the Best Beans, The ‘Ideal’ Amount To Drink, and Caffeine Content

A couple years ago when Dave Asprey’s mycotoxin-free Bulletproof coffee beans were “all the rage,” I dug into this topic to see if certain beans made a difference on how I felt—I suspected I would be that person who could tell the difference if there were “toxins” in the coffee. I also dug into online articles to see what others were saying, and of course the research to see what the science supports.

Meanwhile, through my own journey of recovering and enhancing my health, my relationship with coffee has drastically changed over the years—I’ve gone from someone who’d pound a couple dozen ounces of crappy coffee a day, all day, just to make it through the day, to now someone who’s more energized, happy, and healthy with just a few ounces a day of the good stuff.

All this has since greatly widened my knowledge and relationship with coffee, which is all covered in this article. If you’ve even wondered about the mycotoxin issue, or if you’re worried you may be drinking too much and how to change that, read on…

The Truth On Mycotoxins

Let’s start off with the blunt truth: If you’re buying decent fair-trade whole beans and not very low-quality cheap beans from big corporations (no need to name names), then most research and vast anecdotal data indicates that “coffee intake does not represent a potential risk for consumers with respect to individual mycotoxin contamination (1).”

In fact, there likely will be some mycotoxins in almost all green coffee beans, but usually the levels are so low that it’s considered safe to consume (2). Martins et al. measured 60 coffee samples and concluded “all positive samples showed OTA levels below the limit suggested by the European Union (8 microg kg(-1))” with the average being 2.38 microg kg(-1) (2).

OTA stands for ochratoxin A, which is a form of mycotoxin produced as a metabolic product of certain fungi, which occurs in processed and unprocessed foods (3).

That said, it doesn’t mean all coffee is considered safe, and some studies have indeed shown significant levels of mycotoxins over the safe limit, with higher levels of mold growing on beans “if the moisture content of the beans exceeds the accepted standard for an extended time (3).” This article discusses more on the varying levels of OTA found in beans compared with standard safe limits that vary by country—but keep in mind, of 625 samples only 1-2% were highly contaminated (3).

Plus, the roasting process itself greatly reduces mycotoxins even further—up to 69%—regardless of the specific type of roasting, i.e. all roasting conditions decrease mycotoxins (4).

With mycotoxins, there is more risk with Robusta beans, while Arabica beans fared much better in testing (5)—scroll to the bottom to read my “coffee checklist” on how to pick the perfect beans and you’ll see Arabica is always the way to go!

So, summing up this toxin issue, what I gather from the science, personal experience and anecdotal evidence from others all lines up: We don’t need to worry about mycotoxin content in coffee as long as we’re buying quality whole beans. Our bodies (even you sensitive flowers like me) are able to handle very low levels of mycotoxins if they are indeed present. On the other hand, aside from mycotoxins, there are other risks with cheap coffee, which poses even greater concern, at least in my opinion…

Real Risks of Cheap Coffee

If cheap coffee were ok, why does it make many people feel horrible? Personally, I feel perfectly fine with quality beans from reputable roasters, whereas crappy coffee really does make me feel crappy, jittery and even upsets my GI (I rarely, if ever, drink it anymore, but I used to all the time). Does that crappy feeling imply that mycotoxins are to blame? Not necessarily, something else likely is…

Cheap coffee may be adulterated as a way to reduce costs, with potential contaminants including barley, corn, various sugars, wheat, soy and coffee stems and husks (6), and pre-ground coffee is more risky than buying whole beans. Say what?!

I don’t know about you but I don’t want my coffee contaminated with stems, sugar and gluten!!! So do yourself and your family a favor: Buy better beans even if it means dishing out a bit extra cash.

So What Are Good Brands of Beans?

Back to that experiment I did a couple years ago. I dug around to find what was considered top-quality beans and bought several different brands touted as “the best” including Kicking Horse Coffee, Organic Coffee Company, Stumptown, and of course Dave’s Bulletproof beans (had to try); plus a few local/California brands including Portola Labs, Modern Times and Blue Bottle. Prices were all about $15-$20 per 12-oz. bag (Bulletproof beans currently run $36.64 for two 12-ounce bags on Amazon Prime; $18.32 a bag).

The result? All tasty, great coffee, that’s for sure. I can’t speak to any research or investigation done on these specific brands to ensure they’re 100% clean, but they fit the qualifications of what you want in good beans and the companies adhere to quality standards.

This initial bean-buying experiment was mostly test Bulletproof beans vs. other high-quality beans. The conclusion was pretty obvious: I felt ZERO difference. What I did notice, though, was that I felt better and needed/drank less coffee (more bang for your buck) with the better quality beans vs. cheap beans. And I’m no stranger to cheap coffee. For years, I’d save money by buying huge tubs of pre-ground coffee for dirt cheap at Costco, or worse would buy coffee from places like 7-Eleven—the horror! So I’ve been on both sides of it. Quality matters. If cost is tough to stomach, my experience has shown that you get more bang for your buck with high-quality coffee and you don’t need to guzzle down as much to get satisfaction—maybe that relates to the fillers in cheap stuff. (Plus read more in the “Coffee Consumption Recommendations” section, which will really prove you don’t need to be drinking much at all for coffee to rock your world.)

What my experiment taught me is that you don’t have to stick to just one “safe” brand and fear all the others. In most cases, nothing works that way. So, venture out. Try new coffee. Mix it up. Hit up your local roasters. Learn about the roasting process. Develop your palate. Become a coffee snob! If you’re going to spend $15-$20 bucks on a bag of beans there are plenty of great options this day in age offered by people and companies who care…

This coffee experimentation also turned my husband, John, into a coffee drinker—he had never drank coffee his whole life prior because he hated the taste, among other reasons. It’s worth noting that John has the most dialed in palate of anyone I’ve ever met. Whether food or drinks, he can easily identify quality vs. crap, so his newfound love for the good coffee I was buying validated that these beans were top-notch and not “poison.”

We also decided we much prefer cold brew over other brewing methods for the lower acidity, unique and robust flavor, and we can make a batch that’ll last for weeks since we only “need” a few ounces each day.

Try out one of these brands, or if you want to seek your own good beans, scroll to the end of this article for a thorough “Coffee Criteria” checklist.

10 Clean Brands of Coffee:

1. Blue Bottle
2. Bulletproof
3. Dark Horse Coffee Roasters
4. Intelligentsia
5. Kicking Horse
6. Modern Times
7. Organic Coffee Co.
8. Portola Labs
9. Secret Squirrel
10. Stumptown

This is certainly not an exhaustive list, and there are plenty of great roasters out there. I encourage you to look for smaller-ish operations in your area (buy local!), and also check out the coffee criteria list below to find even more coffee gems. If you’re a coffee snob like us and know of good brands please share in the comments!

Coffee Consumption Recommendations

Now, I’m not suggesting that buying good coffee is your excuse to go out and drink an insane amount. Caffeine is a drug to be used in moderation. And for those of you who have a 5-cuppa-day habit and think you need that much, here’s some news for you: LESS IS MORE!

That’s right, the less you drink, the MORE you get from each cup of coffee (7). Whereas the more you drink, the less of a positive effect it has and the more likely you risk potential negative effects on your health and wellbeing.

If you’re currently drinking too much—be honest, you probably know—here’s what you have to do:

Wean off for 2-3 weeks (go cold turkey or decrease the amount you drink each day by at least an ounce or two—your choice). It may take 3 weeks to break the habit.
Then reintroduce a small amount back in. When you reintroduce it, start small by drinking just 2-3 ounces a day, and see how that makes you feel. When you pour your few ounces, dilute it with equal parts water if you prefer (that’s what I do; see below).
Skip a day, then try it again. See how you feel. At this point, note the effect that coffee has on you vs. how you feel without it (it’s important to do this once you’re past the addiction phase—sorry, but you likely won’t feel good in those initial days “coming off” it).
If you don’t really like how you feel “on” coffee, even good stuff, switch to decaf or another hot beverage like decaf tea. In other words, it’s still nice to have a daily ritual with a beverage—hot or cold—that you enjoy and look forward to sipping.
If you choose to keep coffee in the mix, do your best to keep your daily consumption to no more than 4-8 ounces all consumed before 2 p.m., the majority of the time. You might even find your sweet spot is 2-4 ounces a day, which is the case with me…
Last tidbit: You can indirectly measure how stressed, rundown and/or chronically fatigued you are by how much coffee you “need,” i.e. if you feel like 2-4 ounces just won’t cut it, and you need tons more, like 12-16+ ounces, then that’s a red flag. You really should feel fine on little to no coffee, every day. Likewise, if you feel like coffee has no effect no matter how much you drink, that’s a red flag too, not to be ignored!

Trust me, I know how this goes. I used to drink 16-24 oz a day, or more—that’s just out of control, but in many ways so was my go-go-go nonstop lifestyle! Now that I’m healthier, have lots of natural energy, keep a balanced life and am not addicted to caffeine, I enjoy 2-4 ounces a day on average, and that’s all I really need and want. Of course there are those days where I”m in the mood to drink more and I do; then there are those days where I skip it completely and don’t suffer any consequences.

On Diluting Your Cup of Coffee

Diluting your coffee is a great way to have more to sip on without overdoing it on caffeine. It’s what I do, especially since I’m a cold brew gal. For every ounce I pour of cold brew (because that’s all we drink in this household) I dilute it with equal parts filtered water, or more, depending on how strong it is. So 2 ounces of cold brew ends up being a 4-ounce glass. If it’s a stronger concentrate then I usually do a 1:3 or 1:4 coffee-to-water ratio.

Our cold brew recipe is on the stronger side, so diluting is highly recommend. We like it to make it strong because you can get the most of a bag of beans and make it last a while. Also, I choose to just use water and I don’t add creamers or fats anymore. I truly love the flavor of plain cold brew and I get my calories from food so I don’t do the “fat coffees.” Just black. Sip slowly. Don’t rush. However, if you like a fatty coffee, go for it! Just be sure not to use it as a continual meal replacement—that runs risks, especially for athletes downing bulletproof coffees before a morning workout. But I digress.

When to Drink It

First off, I certainly don’t advise drinking your daily coffee on an empty stomach. This can really drive up cortisol and stress levels, and it’s harsh on the digestive tract. For those who are cold brew fans like me, the good news is that cold brew is significantly lower in acid so it’s gentler on the system—I still advise having your cold brew with a meal though, especially since many cold brews can be stronger.

Tangent: In working with folks who have cortisol and/or adrenal dysregulation, often a huge culprit is their coffee habits. To watch out for your health and hormones, just keep the caffeine to a minimum, and only drink at appropriate times, please ☺

Another way to schedule your cup of Joe is looking to the guidelines in the Power of When and based on your chronotype, have your coffee at the right time. I’ve done this more lately—as a lion, I”m high in cortisol and energy early in the morning so I don’t need to add caffeine to that, and waiting till a bit later to have coffee really enhances the overall day.

Also if you’re an athlete, we know even more that you have to manage stress and cortisol so be cautious of the coffee-workout combo. Research shows that coffee ingested before exercise increases cortisol more than exercise on its own (8). This may be fine every once and a while, but over time could lead problems, especially if you’re doing this in a fasted state early in the day. Of course, coffee/caffeine is an ergogenic aid that can benefit sports performance, so just use wisely and don’t let the habit go down a path that leads you to being fit but unhealthy.

Interestingly, though, you may assume that only drinking coffee once in a while (1-2 times a week) is better for cortisol, and there is research to indicate this is true (7). However, other research shows that if you abstain for 5 days then drink coffee it has a worse effect on cortisol than if you drank moderately every day (9). In other words, developing somewhat of a tolerance and having a small dose regularly may be the better option if you choose to be a coffee drinker.

Caffeine Content Cautions

I’m sure you’re wondering, “How do you know if your coffee or cold brew is strong or not?!” Well besides flavor (you can often taste and feel when it’s bursting with caffeine), that’s a great question. Studies show that the caffeine content in the same coffee beverage bought from a commercial shop can vary realty. One study showed a variation of 259mg to 564 mg per 16oz in the same coffee beverage obtained from the same outlet on six consecutive days (10)—yikes.

Even if you’re buying and making your own beans, caffeine may vary by brand, bean, blend, how it’s prepared, and so on, so just be mindful that your cup may not always be exactly the same.

Cold brew is often said to be stronger than traditional brewing methods (hence why diluting it should be pretty much mandatory). For cold brew concentrates, you may get 200mg caffeine for every 2 ounces (dilute! dilute!). I can tell when John uses beans that yield extra strong cold brew and in those cases I pour even less.

Caffeine in regular brewed coffee can vary from 70-140 mg of caffeine per 8 ounces, or about 95 mg on average (11).

Remember you always have the option to dilute your coffee if you suspect it’s strong.

Coffee Criteria Checklist

Lastly, here is my checklist for buying beans, with coffee characteristics to look for in what beans you purchase and also what bags you choose from individual roasters:

1. Whole bean—don’t buy pre-ground coffee; grind yourself always!
2. Lighter roast—a lighter bean is best for cold brew, not dark or espresso roasts
3. Arabica—superior over Robusta
4. Fair Trade
5. Single-source or single-geography beans, unless you trust the roaster who’s blending the beans, e.g. the brands we listed above have trustworthy blends. Avoid mystery blends from the big corporate brands.
6. From remote regions at altitude, i.e. Central America, Africa, etc.
7. Wet-processed
8. For decaf: buy beans that are Swiss Water Processed to avoid added chemicals.